Commissioners ask staff to study outsourcing and cross‑training as budget exercise

Chair (S1) opened the work session by distributing a packet that included last year’s items and an outsourcing report the commission requested. Commissioner (S5) urged the city to reconsider outsourcing maintenance and energy‑efficiency projects, saying private contractors such as ABM had handled similar work for other municipalities and could reduce payroll burdens.

Commissioner (S3) described field observations—“I watched a hole being repaired the size of this table, and it took eight people to do it”—and argued the city could improve service through better management and cross‑training rather than immediately outsourcing. Chair (S1) and others warned outsourcing can shift benefit costs to contractors and may not realize net savings when equipment and transition costs are included.

The commission did not vote but reached consensus to ask departments to evaluate specific outsourcing candidates as part of the next budget cycle. Chair (S1) said the budget process is the appropriate time for departments to identify services that could be outsourced or reallocated and to present associated cost estimates and staffing impacts.

Commissioners also discussed operational options short of contracting out work: targeted cross‑training, reassigning positions as vacancies occur, and improved on‑the‑ground supervision to reduce apparent overstaffing on small jobs. No formal motion was made.

The commission asked staff to return a budget‑cycle analysis showing candidate services, expected upfront costs, estimated ongoing savings, and implications for employee benefits and local service capacity.